Chapter 11. Playing when behind in lane

How to actually know if you are winning or losing lane – it might not always be what you expect

A common misconception is that you are ahead or behind in a lane only when you are ahead or behind in kills, respectively.

This could not be further from the truth.

When coaching players, I see that most of them really freak out when it comes to this stuff. They get killed once, and they automatically assume they’ve lost the lane.

Champion kills are nice to have, but they are not the most important thing in this game and they are not necessary for you to win or lose your lane.

Cs advantage for instance can have a much bigger role in determining who is actually ahead.

Remember that 15 minion kills equal approximately 1 kill, more or less.

So even if you are ahead on your opponent with 1 kill, if you are 30 minions behind, you are also the equivalent of one kill behind in terms of gold.

Experience matters too.

Sometimes, you might be behind in gold and items, but if your champion reaches a certain item or level powerspike in the matchup, this can turn the tide in your favor, even when behind in resources.

The purpose of this brief analysis is just to keep your mind open that there are always two sides of the coin.

Don’t be quick to make assumptions about how the lane is going by judging off of kills, without also considering the farm and experience difference between you and your opponent.

How to deal with getting zoned from farming/experience

Well, you made just that one mistake this one time and now your opponent capitalized on it, managing to successfully zone you out of the last hitting range.

How do you deal with that?

First, you want to make sure that you at least stay within the experience range.

Losing a few last hits isn’t the end of the world and especially if the enemy is not managing to freeze the lane properly, the wave will eventually push into you and you will get your chance to make up for those missed last hits.

The second important thing is that you need to be okay with missing out on a few cs. Accept that this is just a tricky position you got yourself into, and you will lose some farm for it. No big deal, don’t sweat it.

What this mindset shift does, is it keeps you centered, as opposed to being worried that you are losing your grip on the lane.

The third thing you can do is actually look for opportunities to roam to the nearest lane.

This sometimes turns out to be very successful, due to the fact that when people try too hard to zone you out and freeze the lane, they tunnel vision and stop paying attention to your actions, since they expect you to be hugging your tower.

Look for the roaming opportunity that seems the most rewarding and don’t hesitate to take action on it.

Trading 1 for 1 in kills when behind

Like mentioned beforehand, trading 1 for 1 kills when you are ahead in lane is highly undesirable, since it just gives your opponent a way back into the lane.

Well, that’s exactly the reason why when you are behind in lane you should be fine with trading one for one.

Each time you do that, the experience and gold/item difference between you and your stronger opponent gets shorter and shorter, until it eventually evens out.

So if you have the chance of getting that kill on your opponent while he is ahead of you in lane, don’t hesitate to use your Summoner spells if needed, just get the trade.

Calling mia and utilizing pings

When should you inform your allies that your opponent is missing in action and they need to be careful?

The answer is, only when you are absolutely 100% they are roaming or being a threat to your team.

Just because your opponent is not in your lane, it doesn’t mean that he or she is a threat to your team. Instead, look for the reason why they might have left lane.

Maybe when you last saw them, they were at 300hp left with no sustain and a lot of gold to spend.

In this case, it should be pretty obvious they recalled to heal up, get some items and get back to lane.

However, if they had just pushed your lane into the turret, while staying at full health and close to full mana and all of a sudden they disappear, it means they are looking for a roaming opportunity and you need to signal your allies immediately.

Use your pings to signal the danger to your teammates.

Give them as much information as you can about their Summoner spells cooldowns and either push back the wave into their turret and follow them, or just count on your allies’ ability to deal with the situation.

To recap, only call mia when you are 100% certain that your opponent is roaming.

Otherwise, you would be just stressing your allies for no reason.

Don’t bother to call mia when you know he backed off to heal to full health and buy items, because it would only put unnecessary pressure on your allies.

What to do when you are about to get dove under Tower?

It happens to all of us.

A 2-man, 3-man or even 4-man dive is about to happen and you know for sure that you have no way out of that predicament, or a way of trading 1 for 1.

In this case, accept that you are going to die and save your Summoner spells.

Don’t waste them if they can’t save you in that particular instance.

I wish I could come up with some magical trick, but this is the best thing you can do in such a position, because if you use them and still die, you will not have them for the next situation when you might actually need them.

Getting camped by the enemy Jungler? – Here is the solution

So, you just got ganked for the 3rd time and the enemy Jungler just doesn’t seem to leave your side of the map.

For one reason or another he does not like you and wants to make sure he keeps you down.

How do you deal with all that pressure?

First, you need to accept that in this situation you will need to sacrifice a lot of farm so you don’t end up dying over and over for nothing and losing your Tower too quickly.

Especially now that the first killed Tower in the game gives bonus local gold.

Losing some cs isn’t the end of the world, don’t sweat it. You will have your chance to make up for it later in the game.

Second, you need to make sure you have some sort of vision around the area, because you need to have as much information as possible, which you can communicate with your Jungler, if needed.

Place your wards from a safe distance and be extra careful to not die if possible, since losing out on experience has far greater negative impact than not being even in farm does, at least during the early stages of the game.

The longer you stay alive, the more time the enemy jungler wastes.

The more time you cause him to waste, the less pressure will be put on your allies. Just stay back and play from a safe distance.